North Coastal News

As the third term approaches for the Fort Bend Intermediate School District, school officials are working to solve the district's failure rates for virtual learners that have been a concern throughout the second term. 

As the fall semester progressed, districts all across Texas faced similar problems. Grade reports from the state's first six-week grading period showed that more students are failing at least one class, with many failing in multiple courses, than at this time last year. 

In the Fort Bend district, Superintendent Charles Dupre, who will be resigning at the end of next year, told the Fort Bend ISD school board at its November assembly that first term failure rates were "somewhat high," according to a Nov. 12 article from ABC 13.

Fort Bend teachers first raised the concern that something in the district's current adaption to COVID-19 may not be working.

Dupre, however, said that parent accountability for students' attendance is a potential option, and that the district should have a detailed plan ready by next month to respond to the failure concerns.

Earlier this month, a deadline passed for Fort Bend ISD parents to choose if their students will learn virtually or in the classroom. More than 60% of the student body had been learning online but the number of families opting for the classroom far surpasses those switching to online. According to ABC 13, only 257 requests had been received by the district as of Nov. 12 to move from in-person instruction to online learning, compared to 1,754 requests for the reverse.

State guidance from earlier this month allows Texas school districts to discontinue online learning for students with a grade average below 70 or with more than three unexcused absences in a grading period, but the district did not immediately explore that option. 

“We are looking at what is involved in that, but it’s not something that we have even entertained, and I’m not sure it's something that we will entertain in Fort Bend ISD, honestly,” Dupre said at the board meeting, according to Community Impact News. “[...] What it would mean, in the end, is demanding that a kid return face-to-face kind of in defiance of their parents' wishes for their well-being.”

Even if the district does not adopt the new policy, it will be looking closely at solutions for the students who aren't attending synchronous online courses or turning in their work. 

"We're looking very critically at our attendance, taking mechanisms to see if there's something we need to shift in how we take attendance," Dupre said according to ABC 13.

The board will meet in regular session at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 7.